Heat presses for transfer printing are known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,993 discloses a press in which the upper platen moves relative to the lower platen by way of a cam and rocking member.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,248 discloses a decal press with a motor driven upper platen.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,883 discloses a hand operated press with adjustment for the gap between the platens.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,633 discloses a press with a pneumatic engager to press the upper platen onto the lower platen and a timer mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,208 discloses a system for applying a decorative device using a swingable upper platen.
Often transfers are applied as part of a process of screen printing an ornamental pattern onto a garment. The heat press is positioned relative to one print station of a rotary printing machine of the type described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,795,189 and 5,031,527 which are examples of the type of machines used in screen printing garments. The garment is supported on a pallet of the screen printing machine and the pallet arm swings the pallet with the garment into position between the upper and lower platens of the heat press. U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,874 and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/814,628 disclose presses adapted for rotary screen printing machines.
Foil or flock printing requires the glue to be printed on to the garment and then the foil is applied by heat and pressure and then the backing sheet removed to reveal the foil adhered only to the sections printed with the glue. The appropriate size of foil needs to be cut from the web and placed on the garment prior to treatment with the heat press. The prior art presses are not able to automatically print foil from continuous carrier webs. Flock printing is usually applied by using electrostatic attraction to the glue surface although application from a web of lightly adhered flock is possible although the appropriate sized sheet needs to be cut from the web as with foil printing.
It is an object of this invention to provide a more convenient way of applying foil or flock using a heat press.